In such devices, the cable or wire must be guided close to the drum or reel onto which it is to be wound in successive layers, by means of a member which leaves it with very little latitude for sideways displacement relative to an axis lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the drum or reel, thus constraining it to pass through a zone which is very little larger than its diameter, while nevertheless avoiding any risk of jamming when the cable has a defect of significantly increased diameter, e.g. due to excess thickness of its insulating sheath.
Cable guides have already been proposed which are constituted by a set of two rollers each carried by a screw, with the screws lying on a common axis parallel to the axis of the drum, and with one of them having a right-handed thread and the other a left-handed thread. The rollers then withstand the forces exerted by a defect in the cable or wire constituted by a diameter greater than the gap between the rollers, and as a result they do not let the cable through, thereby jamming the guide system and possibly breaking the cable or wire.
Cable guides have also been proposed which are constituted by a set of two rollers each carried at the end of a compression spring. When a defect arrives, the rollers move apart to let it through. However, if the cable is presented at a certain angular offset relative to the plane perpendicular to the axis of the drum or reel, then the roller against which the cable bears retracts whenever the cable applies a force thereto greater than a certain limit, in which ca==the cable is no longer properly guided.
The object of the present invention is to provide a cable or wire guide which withstands the forces exerted thereon by a cable or wire when presented thereto at a certain angular offset relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis of the drum or reel, but which nevertheless allows cable or wire defects of considerably greater diameter than normal to pass therethrough.